William's Places

It was August 25, 2011 at 9:50 a.m. I was the first one to receive the news.

I had received the call from my Aunt Eunice, my grandmother's older and remaining sister, around 9:30 that morning. She had been notified by the hospital that Grams had a heart attack. I rushed from where I was, grateful that my cousin Nona was around. She drove me to the hospital and I got to the ICU as quickly as I could.

When the doctors told me the news, my eyes widened, and I almost thought that I would collapse right there on the spot, but God enabled me to hold it together. The doctor explained everything they had tried to do to keep my Grams alive, but the combination of medications, along with the shocks, just couldn't do the job.

You see, my grandmother had COPD, and she had reached the final stages of the disease two months ago, when she was admitted to the emergency room because her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low. Her pastor's wife sang "How Great Is Our God" in her ear, and her pressure began to rise, inexplicably. So God gave her a little more time, that day, to be with us.

We had brought her back to the hospital at least 5 times between that episode and August 23, and when she was brought to the hospital that day, she had developed pneumonia.

It was her time to leave me, to leave us.

I am grateful for the 37 years that she was in my life. In spite of the issues that we had regarding my father, I still loved her very much, and did everything that I could to make her life sweet in those final months. From running errands, to spending the night, I am glad that I had the time to spend with her.

We buried her Wednesday, August 31. The funeral was a beautiful service, with plenty of beautiful purple flowers, and purple accents throughout the church (purple was her favorite color).

As the days have gone by, I allow the memories to wash over me. The sound of her voice, her sometimes colorful phrases, her giving spirit, her sweet disposition. I remember with fondness her penchant for cake. Even as a little boy, I remember her always going to this one bakery on East Main Street after church every Sunday and picking up cake. When she got sick and couldn't go out any more, any occasion at which cake was served, we would always bring her some cake. Wednesday was my daughter's birthday, and Grams would have been calling us, "Did you save me a piece of cake?"

I also remember all of the things she introduced me to. Gummy bears. Portuguese rolls. Truffles. Church. Cooking collard greens, spinach, mustard greens and cabbage with peppered jowls.

I treasure the fact that she taught me how to cook better than what I had already learned before I went to college. I am thankful that she taught me the secret to a great sweet-potato pie. Now, I'll be getting the calls...

Goodbye, Grams. I love you, I miss you, and I will never forget you....

I am Thankful for...

All the soldiers that have ever fought in every war to make sure that we could enjoy and keep the freedoms we have. For my grandfather, for my deceased uncle, and for any other relatives who have served in the Armed Forces, and to all those who I have never, and may never get the pleasure of meeting, I say thank you. Happy Veteran's Day to all.

I am Thankful for...

Being alive. There have been many times in my life when I should have been dead and gone, but God saw fit to let me live to see another day...another day to be a help to someone else, another day to make a difference, another day to see God's hand at work in nature and in the lives and affairs of men.

Happy 7th Birthday, Sweetie

Today, August 31, is my daughter Jasmine's 7th birthday.

Jasmine usually chooses the venue for her birthday celebration, but as her mother and I wished to keep it small and financially manageable this year (last year we went to Lakewood Lanes), she didn't get her choice of JumpZone, but instead celebrated her special day with her brothers, younger cousins, and her grandparents at Chuck E. Cheese, where all of the kids enjoyed themselves playing the various games and activities there.

Then Jasmine and her cousins enjoyed her cake - ice cream, with her picture on it (again, her choice - she usually lets us know what she wants well ahead of time), and then they were off again, playing and running around until it was time to go - it is a school night, after all!

Happy 7th Birthday, Sweetie.
Love, Daddy

God Will Take Care of You

Bobby McFerrin sang a song in my youth "Don't Worry, Be Happy"...that was in the time before I knew God, before I knew what being His child would mean to me.

Today, I have troubles, yes; and I have problems, yes. In all areas of our lives, we may be faced with uncertainty, apprehension, and even fear sometimes creeps in. But I don't worry, and I stay happy, because I know that no matter what I am going through, that God will take care of me...

It's Not Your Fight...

There are times when it seems like we have no peace anywhere we go. On the job, in our homes, even in the church, we find strife. It gets tired, more often than we care to admit.

But the best way to find peace in the midst of the enemy's attacks is to realize several things. One, recognize that it is the enemy attacking you - not your boss, or your co-worker, or your spouse, or your children, or even your brothers and sisters in Christ. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places"  - Ephesians 6:12. Two, realize that "greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" - I John 4:4b.

There are times when we have to fight, using the weapons that God has given us (II Corinthians 10:4, Ephesians 6:13-18), and then there are times when we need to realize that it is not our fight...

The Myth of Good Friday

Friday, April 2, Christians around the world commemorated the day that Jesus gave his life for the sins of the world. Well, I should say, most Christians. Why most and not all? Not out of some lack of reverence for the fact that Jesus died for us, that's for sure, but because we know the truth....

What truth? The fact of the matter is, Jesus did not die on a Friday afternoon. How do I know this? Count backwards from early Sunday morning three days and three nights, and you don't end up on a Friday afternoon.

There are some things that Jesus said that were figurative, and others that were quite literal. Jesus simply stated that as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth - so says Matthew 12:40. Three days and three nights....

But so many people don't know that the day begins at sundown. Well, not according to Western accounting of time. We start our days at 12 a.m. and end them at 12 a.m. But if anyone ever pays attention to how Jews observe the Sabbath, it becomes apparent, to a degree. Understanding why they do it that way is as simple as reading Genesis 1:5 - And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Interesting!

So what does that have to do with good Friday being a myth? Because it wasn't Friday when Jesus died. If you count backwards three days and three nights from the time that Jesus rose form the dead - and the women who went to embalm and anoint his body went at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning (the day after the Sabbath), then you end up on...let's see...if Sunday officially begins on what we would consider Saturday evening, then Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday afternoon...and had to be buried by sundown, which began Thursday...

What To Do In The Storms of Life, Part 4

You know, storms have a way of taking your focus off of what's really important.

But as children of God, we have more power over the storms that arise in our lives than what we think.

The Bible plainly declares that the power of life and death are in our tongue. Simply put, we can speak to our situations, and either live, or die.

Me? I choose to speak life.

That means that when the storms of life come, that I can tell those storms that no, they will not last!

What To Do In The Storms of Life, Part 3

The Origin of Christmas Gifts

  On the last day before Christmas, millions of people are scurrying about looking for that last minute bargain, that one gift they need to get for their children, spouse or other loved ones that they just couldn’t manage to find in the weeks before Christmas…

  I seriously wonder how many people know why they get gifts in the first place. Yes, it has been tradition to get Christmas gifts for as long as I can remember, and as long as probably the oldest amongst us can remember. But, there is a reason why gifts became a part of the Christmas tradition…

  When going to see royalty, it was customary to bring a gift in order to be received. Ancient customs dictated such a practice, in a time where, if the king was not in a particularly good mood, could quite deliberately have someone beheaded for entering his presence without being invited. The gift was the means by which favor seekers or anyone requesting an audience with the king would be granted their request.

  Gifts were also a way of showing honor and respect. If one did not personally know royalty, or even if they had heard about a king or queen by word of mouth, bringing a gift, or sending one by way of an emissary, was the customary way in which proper respect was shown.

  So, what has this got to do with Christmas? The birth of Jesus was no ordinary birth, aside from the nature of his conception. Both his mother, Mary, and his stepfather, Joseph, were direct descendants of King David, the second king of Israel . Thus, Jesus was royalty. The   three wise men who came from afar knew this, somehow, and they came with their gifts, accordingly.

  The nature of the gifts was most interesting. Each of the wise men brought one gift apiece. One brought gold, frankincense came from another, and myrrh from the third. It wasn’t the number of the gifts that was so important ( a lesson that many people need to learn, IMHO, but I digress), but the significance of the gifts…gold for a king made sense, and so did the frankincense, but myrrh? If anyone knew what myrrh was for, it would be considered a strange gift to give to a newborn child…but for the fact that this child was born, only to give his life for the sins of the world…

  So, we give gifts to others today, as gifts were given to Jesus after he was born, but do we give gifts that mean anything? Are they given with intent and purpose? Do they have any other significance than that they were given this year, and then we repeat the cycle again next year ? Just some things to ponder as we wrap up this year.

To all of my ActiveRain friends, Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all!